


lessons on literacy

by hobbitheichou (midnightstarlight)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship, canonverse, i guess ?, levi is illiterate, rivetra january 2019, rivetra weekend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 22:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17313107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightstarlight/pseuds/hobbitheichou
Summary: The worst thing about being a captain of the Scouting Legion was not the training, nor the expeditions, nor was it the formal functions he has to attend from time to time. Sure you could say that the worst was returning home with less and less soldiers with each and every expedition or maybe even breaking the news to their respective families - but not to Levi Ackerman.





	lessons on literacy

**Author's Note:**

> written for rivetra weekend event over at tumblr. Enjoy!

The worst thing about being a captain of the Scouting Legion was not the training, nor the expeditions, nor was it the formal functions he has to attend from time to time. Sure you could say that the worst was returning home with less and less soldiers with each and every expedition or maybe even breaking the news to their respective families - but not to Levi Ackerman.

If he is to rank them from 1 to 5 with 1 being the easiest and 5 being the most difficult, it would look like this:

1\. Training

2\. Formal functions

3\. Expeditions

4\. Less soldiers

5\. Breaking the news

To him, these things were bearable somehow. Broken bones heal, a few nods and a couple of nice words could get him through a night’s party. And with every expedition and every soldier lost, he has learned to move forward and to carry on with his life to make their deaths count.

These, he thinks, are bearable.

The worst, most impossible thing about being captain of the Scouting Legion to Levi Ackerman is the amount of paperworks he has to read. And write. And sign. It may sound pathetic to you but to him it’s the most boring, most taxing thing and well, he’d rather slice a titan to pieces than sit on his desk trying to read policies and all that shit he did not sign up for.

The reason he agreed to be a captain in the first place was the notion that all he had to do was train new recruits. It wasn’t long before he found out that he had tons of paper work to do, much to his dismay.

You see, as someone who grew up in the capital’s underground city, Levi Ackerman was never given the opportunity to get proper education. He does not know how to read and write.

It was a good thing that his mother has taught him how to write his name before she passed. At least he can somehow sign papers even if his signature is just a squiggly, poorly penned “Levi A.”

When asked why his signature looks like a child’s scrawl his answer would either be  _fuck off_  or  _my handwriting’s bad, I know_  complete with a scowl.

It frustrates him.

Not a single soul knows of his illiteracy - not even Erwin nor Hanji.

You may ask:  _but what about his training days? didn’t they require trainee scouts to attend class lectures and take exams?_  ah, but you see, Levi was a special case. Having been recruited by the Commander of the Scouting Legion himself and partly because of his expertise in the maneuver gear and his battle prowess, Levi was granted the immunity to not take classroom discussions and exams and was promoted straight as a new recruit in the Scouting Legion.

He sighs, running his hands through his hair and tugging at it in frustration, and stares at a new stack of documents in front of him that arrived with the mail.

He knows that he can’t continue this act any longer. Sooner or later he’ll have to attend a meeting where he would be required to read out loud and he’ll end up shitting himself in embarrassment. The mere thought of his higher ups finding out that he’s illiterate is making his stomach churn.

He drinks from his freshly brewed cup of tea, lets his head fall to his folded, and groans.

This is frustrating.

He doesn’t know how long he’s stayed in such a despondent position and only when he hears the kitchen door creak open does he lift his head from his arms and watches as a petite young woman with sunset colored hair enters.

She must’ve not noticed him as she went straight for the kitchen counter, humming to herself, and started preparing herself a cup of coffee.

“Morning, Petra,” his voice came out gruff. His throat feels dry.

She lets out a squeak and a hand flies to her chest, nearly dropping her coffee cup. It was almost comical and Levi couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the sight.

She whips around to face him, “You scared me, Captain!”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you,” he reaches for his cup of tea and finds it cold. He drinks it, anyway.

She gives him a smile before moving across the kitchen to sit in front of him.

“I missed the mail again.”

Levi stares at her and nods absentmindedly, too preoccupied of his current dilemma to notice the letter Petra has placed on the table.

“My father is probably worried sick by now. I haven’t sent him a letter in two weeks!”

Only when she mentioned the word  _letter_  does he snap out of his reverie and hones in on the letter.

“Did you just say… a letter?”

As if in a trance, Levi slowly reaches out to take hold of the letter she has placed on the table but even before he lays a finger on it, Petra snatches the letter and presses it against her chest, almost knocking her coffee in her haste.

Her eyes widen in shock, her cheeks turning pink, “yes, I did. Why?”

He looks taken aback by her actions and blinks, he himself doesn’t even  _know_  why he wanted to take hold of her letter in the first place. He won’t be able to read it anyway. He clears his throat, “Uh, nothing. I just… wanted to know if you wrote the letter yourself.”

Her eyebrows knit together in obvious confusion and he is overcome with a sudden urge to smoothen the wrinkles formed between them with his thumbs.

“Uhh, yes, I did. Why do you ask?” She says, the letter still pressed to her sternum.

He shrugs in an attempt to look and sound nonchalant, “No reason.”

She doesn’t buy it.

“There’s something on your mind, Captain. What is it?” She places the letter back on the table but lays a protective hand on top of it.

He sighs heavily, shoulders drooping. He locks eyes with hers, and with his voice dropping low it was almost a whisper, he says, “I need your help, Petra.”

And thus began their late-night lessons on literacy.

* * *

Levi was skeptical at first.

What if he’s too old to learn how to read? What if his hands can’t hold a pen right? What if teaching him was really against her will? What if the reason why she only agreed to this was because he was her superior?

But all those what ifs were instantly shut down on their first night of lessons together when she showed him how eager, how enthusiastic, and how committed she was to teaching him.

She was patient with him. She showed him how to properly hold a pen between his calloused and awkward finger. She was gentle with him. She’d guide his hand as his pen glides on the smooth paper and as he traces letters and numbers on the practice sheets she’d made for him.

On most nights he’d practice writing letters and numbers until the light emanating from the gas-lamp is nothing but a soft, faint glow casting their shadows on walls as she slowly drifts off to sleep beside him - head nestled on her folded arms on top of his desk. He’d look over to her then and pray to whatever god that she doesn’t open her eyes - not yet - and stares at her with so much adoration and gratitude and for a moment he thinks that maybe he likes her a little too much for his own good.

* * *

Learning how to write was easier than he’d thought and perhaps it was partly due to how excellent a teacher Petra was to him.

Learning how to read was a different matter altogether. If writing was easy for him, then reading was its complete opposite.

She’d brought him books - children’s books to be exact - and would read to him first before he  _tries_  to do the same.

Reading was the hardest and most frustrating thing he has ever done.

Often times he’d butcher the pronunciation of words and sometimes the letters would jumble in his head and he’d read the words  _wrong_  - especially if the words were composed of the same letters. But Petra was an angel. She’d always encourage him to try again with that sweet smile of hers and praise him whenever he reads the words right.  

* * *

Months pass and he is becoming more and more confident and Petra beams with pride whenever he finishes reading her a book.

“You’re good at this,” he tells her as he closes the book he was reading from.

She straightens up in her chair beside him and flashes him a smile that reached her eyes, “I am, aren’t I?”

He nods. And the following words that came from her lips was something he both expected and did not expect at all.

Her gaze drops to the book in his hands and with a wistful look on her face, she whispers, “You know, Captain, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.”

“You’d be a wonderful teacher, Petra,” he tells her this earnestly and he watches as she blushes prettily and he is yet again overcome with the urge to touch her cheek (and press his lips to hers if he is to be truly honest with himself.)

She gives him another smile, small and sweet and hopeful.

“Maybe after all this. After the war, after the Titans. Maybe I can become one.”

_You’re already one to me_  he wants to tell her but he reaches for her hand instead and gives it a reassuring squeeze. To his surprise, she places her other hand on top of his and squeezes back.

They say their goodnights then and Levi offers to walk her back to her room.

As he waits for sleep to come, his thoughts drift to sweet, patient, and gentle Petra and how grateful he is for her presence in his life and the fact that maybe, just maybe, he is a little bit in love with her already.


End file.
